Breech-loading fire-arm



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

C. A. KING.

'BREECH LOADING PIRE ARM.

No'. 356,321. Patented Jan. 18, 1887.

Hy L.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

C. A. KING.

BREBGH LOADING PIRE ARM No. 356,321. Patented Jan. 18, 1887.

UNITED STATESV PATENT FFICE.

CHARLES KING, 'OF MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT.

BREEcH-LQADING FIRE-ARM.

seEcIrfIcATIoN forming parmi Letters Patent No. 356.321, dated January1e, 18er.

Applicaiionled August 30,1886. Serial No. 212,141. (No model.)

- To (LZZ whom, it Huey concern:

ings and the letters of reference marked there-- Beit 'known that l,CHAR-LES A. KING, of

Meriden, inthe county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, haveinvented new Imf provements in BreechLoading Fire-Arms; and I do herebydeclare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying draw-2,. the same view as Fig. 1, showing the parts in the position of thebarrel open; Fig. 3, a detached view showinglthe connectionbetween thebarrels and slide; Fig. 4, Va. top viewof the frame, -the barrelsremoved.

This inventionrelates toan improvement in that class of fire-arms inwhichthebarrels are hung to the frame forward of the recoil-plate, andso that the rear end of the barrel tips up to open thecartridge-chamber, and known as barrel `tilt-ing up at the breech/ andwith special reference to the class known as concealed hammer-that is,in which the hammer is arranged entirely within the receiver and broughtto the cockedposition in the opening movement of the barrel, this classof arms being usually double-barrel, and in this `class of arms themainspring by which the'hanimer is operated is usually of flat leaf or Vspring character.

The object of my invention'is the employment of helical springs arrangedin the frame forward of the hammers, and adevice be- .tween thebarrelsand the mainsprings to relieve the hammers from' aportion of the power4of the mainsprings as the barrels ane opened,

and also a simple meehanisnrbetween thebarrelsand hammers, whereby'thehammers are thrownv tothe cocked position in the opening full-cockfmtchRonthe hammers, as seen in Qfthe barrels. l

- A represents the frame,which extends rea-r1- Ward to form therecoil-plate B, from which the'tangs C extend to secure the frame to thestoekiin the usual' manner.

' end ofthe frame A theforearm D is hinged fupon a pintle, E, and to theforearm the bar- 5"v f the barrels, at therear end, is a lug," G,w hichL enters arecessi'n the frame, andwhchgis conrels F are-fixed in' theusual manner. vBeneath f f v l To the forward' structed with a notch orshoulder, H, into which a bolt, I, enters vto vlock the barrels in theclosed position, the bolt being operated bya lever, J, on the upper'sideof the tang C,

through an eccentric, K, and lever L, to which` the said bolt is hung,this being a commonand 'well-known arrangement of locking device,

the parts being shown in broken lines in the `locked position, Fig. 1,and in the unlocked position, Fig. 2.

A hammer, M, is hung upon a pivot, in the frame beneath the rear end ofeach barrel, and in such relation to the barrels that the nose ofthehammers bmay strike the primers onthe cartridges when the hammers arethrown forward. Below the hammers andi'n the frame g isalongitudinally-guidedI slide, N. The slide extends to the rear of thepivot upon which the hammers are hung, and is there provided withupwardly-projecting studs or shoulders d, .On each of the hammers is acorrespond- A ing stud or shoulder, e, forward of the studs d,

but below the pivot upon `which the hammers are hung, and so that as theslide N is drawn X forward,'as from the position in Fig. 1 to that inFig. 2, the studs d,bea ring against the studs ou-the hammers, will drawthe hammers from the position seen in Fig. l to'the cocked position'seenin Fig. 2. v

' In the frame forward of the hammers atwo-r armed or bell-crank lever,f g, vis hungupon a fulci-urh, h. (See Fig. 3.)' The one arm, g,

-is connected to the forward end of the slide N. The other arm,'f, isengaged by a link, i, hung lto the barrels upon -a pivot,.l, and sothatsas the barrels are 'raised from the position seen in Fig. 1 to thatseen in Fig. 2`the consequent turning of the lleverj,` g draws the slideN forward, and brings the hammers to the full-cock position, as seen inFig. 2, at

which time the nosesof the sears P engage the Fig; 2,' from which rthe.hammers can be" rc1 leased by pulling the-triggers S in the usualmanner.

Upon the return .of the barrels to the positions seen in Figs. 1 and 3the slide is moved rearward'to take the studs d so far to the rear ofthe studs e on thehammer's that they may IOO.

'not'interfere withl th movement of the hammers in imparting the blow,but until the barrels are' brought to substantially their closedpositionthe studs a win so stand inthe path of the studs e as to interrupt thestrikingA Amovement of the hammers, should they be 'rcleased before thebarrels are closed.

. ,In4 the frame forward of the hammers the spring-chambers T are'formed. These chambers are simply round holesv drilled into the framefrom the hammer-chamber forward, the axis of the .chambcrsbeing inali-ne at substan- 'tiallyright angles to and below the axis of the Inthe rear4 end offeach` respective hammers. v spring-chamber afollower,-U, is arranged to bear against the respective hammers forwardof and below the pivot a, and at the bearingpoint preferably,anti-friction rolls W are arranged, against whichl the followers maybear.

The mainsprings V are helical springs. of sufficient strength, one endbearing against the forward end of the follower U and the other endsupported in. the chambers forward; and so that as the hammers areturned to the cocked position in opening the barrels. the hammers, belowthe. pivot bear against the followers and act as cams thereon to forcetheV followers forward and awayfrom the hammers to compress the springs,as seen in Fig. 2.

In each spring-chamber forward of. the

springs,.and so as toform bearings upon which that .end of the springsmay rest, a piston,l m,

- therein. From each piston Ym 'a` spindle, fn.,

extends through that end of the spring-chamber forward,'the spindlesterminating in a cam-shaped`,end, -r-that is, the end is eecen-i trc'tothe axis upon -which the barrelsfturn.

This eccentric or cam-shaped end stands in.,` 'the path of a roller, s,or other suitable bearing-point arranged in the forearm so as to Workover the cam-shaped forward Aend of the spindles as the barrels areopened and closed.

` The -cam shape of the' forward end of the spindles is downward and.backward, as seen in Fig. 1, and in that position thelength of" thespindles is such, as shown, that the bearing the mainsprings,

ure of the springs to the extent'that the pistons are moved, so that inthe opening movement of the barrels the power` of the vsprings isreduced,v thus relievingthe resistance'to the opening movement of thehammers to the e'x'- tent thatsuch p owerof thesprings is reduced-.-

-On the return'or-in 'the'"closing movement` Y of thebarrels thebearings on the forearm Work against the forward ends of Vthe spindles",and force the pistons inwardto compress and so that as the barrels arefinally closed the mainsprings have regained their full 'power'. -Bythus' reducing the power of the mainsprings as the barrels are openedthe hammers offer a diminishing is arranged, and so as to work freelyvpistons to'move forward,

l thissa'me dog a'ct automatically, barrels are thrown vopen it will bebrought into resistance to the opening of the barrel, and. the hammersand theworking parts being so relieved from the force ofthe manspringsthe wear upon the parts is correspondingly reduced; i

In detaching the barrels it is necessaryto make a disconnection betweentheslide N and the barrels. To this end I construct thelinki with athumb-piece, s', which stands ina rezcess, t, in't-he under side of theframe when the barrels are in the closed position; and the link isconstructedwitha notch, a, l'pon its rearside to set over the pivotor'trunnion on the arm f, asseen in Fig. 3, and so as to engage y withthe 'arm -for operation; but when desired to' disengage the barrels thelink 'i is readily turned forward by 'applying the thumb'to thethumb-piece s', as indicated in broken lines,-v

Fig. 3, so as todisengage the link from thee, v

arm f and leave the barrels free to be removed.

Then, in' replacing the barrels when setin place, the link 'i is againturned into `con-nection with the arm f. y l As aprotection againstaccidental discharge Aof -the hammers I arrange a dog,- w, over "thetriggers, which may be turned by means of a slide, lv, on the tang to aposition over the triggers, as seen in Fig. 2, to prevent their. beingpulled or thrown from that position to the position seen in Fig.` 1, toleave the trigger free. This mechanism for mechanically bringingthefdog' to the locked or unlocked position is a common and well-knowndevice; Jbut to make so that as the the stopping position, I hang `thelupper end of the lever L in a recess, 2, above the connection betweenthe lever L and the eccentric, and so that therecess 2 serves as afulcrum, upon which the lever-L may swing backward and forward, as fromthe The connection between the eccentric andv the lever is a sli,de,.3,arranged to work ina.-

position seen in Fi-g.1 to *tha-tin Fig. 2, and return.

IIO

plane at right angles to the axis of the eccentric, the eccentric takinga bearing in the'slide,

so as to move it backward and forward, and.

the lever 'L extending through a slot in the` p slide 3, and thereVconnected with the slide by a pin, 4, so that the -movementof the slidebackward or forward is imparted to thelever L. From thev rear end of theslide a rod,5, extends to a point near the dog ui, so that it may bearabove the pivot 6,'on which the dog is hung; hence, as the slide 3 is4moved rearward in opening the barrels, the rod 5 moves rearpivot',throwngthedog from the position -seen -in Fig. 1- tb thatI seenin Fig.2, andas this rear movement of the slide must occur before the barrelsare opened, it follows that the trig vgers will be locked before theopening movement of the barrels commences, and the do `wardaccordingly,andstrikes thedo'gbwethe. v

will remain in that condition until the barrels are returned to place.and properly locked, .for until the slide 3 is forced forward, takingwith it the bolt into its locked position, the bar 5 Alocked position,

will still retain its position against the dog to prevent its beinginterlocked, and' after the barrels are properly locked the operatorwill move the slide n and throw the dog to the uuas seen in Fig. 1,where it may remain until the barrels are opened, or

until such time as the operator may chocse to mechanically rrelock thetriggers.

- a corresponding point hung in the frame in rear -which the barrel ishung,

The arrangement of a helical spring forward of the hammers, and havingits axial line below the pivot of the hammer, and adapted to bear uponthe hammer below its pivot, is applicable to other classes of arms.

While-the invention is' designed and'illustrated as applied to adouble-barrel arm,it will be apparent that the invention is alikeapplicable to single-loaders. I therefore do not wish to be understoodas necessarlylimiting the invention to.a double-barrel gun.

I claim- 1. In a breech-loadingptire-arm in which the barrel is hungforward to be tilted up at the breech in opening, thecombinationtherewith `of a hammer hung in the frame at the lrear of thebarrel', a longitudinal slide arranged in the frame below the pivot ofthe hammer, a projection on the said slide adaptedto engage on thehammer below the pivot upon which the hammer is hung, th'e said slideextending forward beneath the barrel, with a' bell-crank lever hung intheV frame in rear of the pivot upon which the barrelis hung, one arm ofsaid lever in connection with said slide, and a linkV between the barreland' the other' arm of said lever,`sub stanVt-ially as' described. A A Y1 2. In a breech-loading fire-arm in whichthe barrel is hung forward tobe tilted up at the breech .in opening, the combination therewith of thehammer M, hung below the barrel and provided with a stud, e, below itspivot, aI longitudinal slide, N, arrangedin the frame below the hammer,said slide provided with a stud, d, corresponding to the stud e in thehammer, the said slide extending forward beneath the: barrel, abell-crank lever, f g, of-the pivot upon one arm, g, in con'- nectionwith said xslide N, a4 link, i, hung to the barrehconstructed with anotch,i1.,ada.ptedy to engage a corresponding trunnion on the arm f ofthcvsaid lever, and the said link also as and for the purpose described:

constructed with a downward thumb-piece,s', Y

a corresponding recess upon y extending into the under side of theframe, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. In a breech-loading fire-arm in which the barrel is hung forward tobe tilted up at the breech in opening, the combination therewith of ahammer hung at the rear below the barrel, a spring-chamber, T, in theframe forward ofthe hammer, the aXisof the chamber being below the axisupon which the` hammer turns andat right angles thereto, a follower, U,in said spring-chamber and adapted to bear upon the hammer below itspivot, a piston, m, arranged in't-he'forward end of said chamber, ahelical spring, V, between said piston and follower, the said pistonconstructed with a spindle extending forward therefrom, the said spindleterminating in a cam shape at its forward end, with a correspondingbearing upon the forearm to work against the said cam-shaped end of saidspindle, substantially as described.

4. In a breech-loading fire-arm in which the barrel is hung forward tobe tilted up at the breech in opening, the combination therewith of abolt longitudinally arranged in theframe att the rear and adapted toengage a corresponding notch at the rear end ot' the barrel Vwhenthebarrel isrin the closed position, the

said bolt movable backward and forward, mechanism, substantially such asdescribed, for imparting backward Aand forward movemeut to said bolt, ahammerV hung in the frame at the rear below the barrel, mechanism,substantially such as describcd,between the ham mer andthe barrel,whereby the hammer is thrownv to the cocked position as thebarrel' isopened, a sear adapted to engage said hammer in the cocked position, atrigger arranged to disengage said sear, a dog, fw, hung in the frameabove the triggeryand so. as to swing over the trigger to serve as astop therefor, or turned therefrom to leave the trigger free, a rod, 5,extendingrearward from thebolt mechanism into the path of said dog,substantially CHARLES A. KING.

Witnesses: A

RALPH A.. PALMER, i JOSEPH- H. BECKETT.

